Multiple brick furnace roof structure including individual facing blocks



Oct. 21, 1947, .1, E. MacDONALD 2,429,520

MULTIPLE BRICK FURNACE ROOF STRUCTURE INCLUDING INDIVIDUAL FACING BLOCKS Filed July 15, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 21, 1947. J. E. MacDQNALD 2,429,520

MULTIPLE BRICK FURNACE ROOF STRUCTURE INCLUDING INDIVIDUAL FACING BLOCKS I Filed July 15, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4L. ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 21, 1947 2,429,520

UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE MULTIPLE BRICK FURNACE ROOF STRUC- TURgK INCLUDING INDIVIDUAL FACING BLO S James E. MacDonald, Latrobe, Pa., assignor to McFeely Brick Company, Latrobe, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 15, 1944, Serial No. 545,130 2 Claims. (Cl. 11099) My invention relates to furnace wall structures In open hearth furnaces of the tilting type, and is herein shown and described as embodied the slag will at times come into contact with the in the roofs or top wall of open hearth furnaces. roof, at the backwall. In all furnaces, and parnesite, can be employed because their ends which while the bricks at the top or middle sections are would otherwise be directly exposed to the heatnearly of the original length, those near the ing gases and molten slag are protected by auxshoulders are so burned away or eroded as to iliary bricks or facing blocks that are more highrequire an entirely new roof.

1y refractory and sh1eld the silica bricks from As shown on the accompanying drawings, Figdirect contact with the furnace gases and slag ure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of an Another ob ect of my invention is to provide a open hearth furnace embodying my invention structure of the character referred to wherein showing a ribbed form of arch wherein alternate highly resistant to spalling and slag action when joints or points of connection between the various furnace. 6, 7 and 8 are respectively perspective views of A further object of my invention is to provide a one of the main arch bricks and the two different structure wherein the facing blocks or tips for forms of tips that are employed; Fig. 9 is an elethe silica bricks are so formed and interlocked vational view showing a furnace of the suspended age in the roof. roof bricks; Fig. 12 is a face view showing a modi- The super refractory facing blocks have a lesser fication of the bricks of Fig. 10, these bricks, howcoe cient of expansion than the sillca'bricks, ever, being especi lly suita f r forming a sl pe tion of the structure.

Drop roofs in open hearth furnaces (referred or row of bricks is of different length than the to in the art as shoulders) are in general comadjacent courses. The arch sections of greatest posed of silica bricks extending 4 /2" to 6" into length are indicated by the numeral I 5 and the the furnace along the backwall and frontwall. sh rter arch bricks by the numeral it. They are Excessive Wearing away. t th point causes 40 both supported by he skewbacks 11 in the usual early roof failure, therefore the drop is used. e h a n u m n d p th ver However, the erosion of the silica dripping onto tical Walls e facing t ps e es gnated by the basic backwall that is usually composed of th numerals Z0 and 2!. These tips are of more magnesite bricks creates a chemical reaction and highly refractory material n are the Silica backwall cutting-out. Basic shoulders are bricks l5 and I 6 and may suit ly be of cyanit used to some extent for the purpose of n tsillimanite, chrome, or other super refractory maing the cutting-out of the backwall, Complete terial.

basic bricks are used and in addition to being Throughout the major portion of each arch very costly, some objectionable mechanical cone tips 20 0f t orm a d sizes shown ditions are encountered For example, magnesite i sand 8 are employed, while at the bricks are physically weak and tend to ,spall. shoulders of each co rse, the tip blocks 2| are Magnesite and silica react chemically at certain employed- The form of ti n be ween all high temperatures and where the magnesite of the tips and their associated silica are the "drop roof is joined to the regular silica roof same however in each case. Where a shoulder such chemical action can be expected. arch is employed as shown in Fig. 1, the bricks It is of great importance that no such thrust be exerted on the tip bricks as would cause shearing off of the silica bricks, and although the facing blocks 20 and 2| will usually have a lesser coefficient of expansion than the silica bricks, additional clearance is provided between the upper sides 24 of the ribs 23 on these facing blocks and the adjacent surfaces of the silica bricks, the surfaces 24 being sloped somewhat, to give greater clearance for tilting. Likewise, there is clearance provided at 25, 26, and 27, between the opposed surfaces of the silica bricks and the facing blocks. In the case of the smaller sizes of bricks, this need be but little more than 3; of an inch.

Theoretically, a ceramist can calculate the exact coefllcient of expansion of the materials to be used in combination, such as silica and chrome, silica and cyanite, etc., so that when subjected to operating temperatures the joints between the facing tips would be nearly closed. But complete closure of the joints could not readily be accomplished, since silica expands more greatly than do the super refractories contemplated, because of irregularities resulting from commercial brick tolerances, various brick densities, and various rates of expansion of different materials. I therefore provide the loosely-supported facing blocks, which are freely tiltable relative to the silica bricks, on their ribs 23, when'installed, and during expansive and contractive movements of the silica bricks, so that throughout most of their facing areas, the silica bricks will be protected.

As the facing blocks are in effect pivotally suspended ontheir ribs 23, they will tilt against the sides of adjacent silica bricks and thus form a seal that will prevent the gases entering between the silica bricks. Also the facing blocks will have engagement with one another through this tilting, to still more effectively prevent the entry of hot gases between the silica bricks.

Referring now to Fig. 9, I show a roof of the suspended type, which is supported in any well known manner by the usual metal hangers 28 and beams 29. In this case, the roof bricks 3| and the facing blocks or tips 32 have interlocking engagement in substantially the same manner as in the case of Fig. 1, the blocks 31 being made of more highly refractory material than the bricks 3i and having the same clearance, tilting action, and sealing effect as explained above in describing Fig. 1.

Where a neck roof construction is desired, the main roof brick 33 will be of stepped form shown in Figs. 12 and 13, while the facing blocks 34 will have their under sides sloped as shown more clearly in Fig. 12.

In Fig. 14, still another form of slope or neck brick structure is employed. In this case, the silica bricks 35 are sloped instead of stepped, and the facing block 36 is similarly sloped, and is provided with a short vertical rib 31 fitting a groove in the brick 35 to prevent it slipping on the inclined surfaces.

While I have herein referred to the roofs as being of silica brick, it will be understood that other kinds of bricks of sufficient strength may be employed and protected by the highly refractory facing blocks or tips.

The silica bricks referred to herein may be of various well known compositions, as commonly known in the industry, while the cyanite and other more highly refractory facing blocks will be of any of well known compositions employed in the furnace art, such as those used in the making of glass-melting tanks.

I claim as my invention:

1. A furnace roof comprising bricks laid in courses and each having a groove exposed toward one vertical face of the bricks, adjacent to the lower extremity of the bricks, a single facing block for each brick, having an upwardly extending portion lying opposite to the groove of its associated brick and provided with a rib loosely fitting in the groove, the blocks each being of narrower width than the widths of the various bricks in directions generally parallel to the said courses, and each being loosely supported by its rib, in a tilted position relative to the longitudinal axis of its associated brick, with the upper corner of its extended portion in engagement with the vertical face of an adjacent brick.

2. A furnace roof comprising bricks laid in courses and each having a groove exposed toward one vertical face of the bricksgadjacent to the lower extremity of the bricks, a single facing block for each brick, having an upwardly extending portion lying opposite to the groove of its associated brick and provided with a rib loosely fitting in the groove, the blocks each being of narrower width than the widths of the various bricks in directions generally parallel to the said courses, and each being loosely supported by its rib, in a tilted position relative to the longitudinal axis of its associated brick, with the upper corner of its extended portion in engagement with the vertical face of an adjacent brick, and with its opposite lower corner in engagement with an adjacent block.

JAMES E. MACDONALD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,410,729 Balz Mar. 28, 1922 1,648,363 Reintjes Nov. 8, 1927 1,666,284 Gilchrist Apr. 17, 1928 1,683,963 Duquenne Sept. 11, 1928 1,698,395 De Grand Jan. 8, 1929 1,705,965 De Wolf Mar. 19, 1929 2,068,863 Mannshardt Jan. 26, 1937 2,119,779 Crysler June 7, 1938 2,299,102 McLimans Oct. 20, 1942 

